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A flight attendant for a Chinese airline pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to smuggle two-dozen spotted and box turtles in a carry-on bag from Los Angeles to China.

Huaqian Qu, a Chinese national, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to a federal charge of conspiracy, which carries a possible penalty of up to five years behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Sentencing was set for July 23.

Qu and co-defendant Renfeng Gao -- also a China Eastern Airlines flight crew member -- unlawfully attempted to export a total of 45 turtles, which are protected by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora -- known as CITES -- last month in carry-on baggage for a China Eastern Airlines flight to Shanghai.

"Neither defendant Qu nor anyone else had obtained the required export permit for these CITES-protected turtles or filed a declaration for exporting these animals," according to a factual basis for Qu's plea, filed in Los Angeles federal court.

It wasn't Qu's first time, prosecutors contend. He is suspected of having smuggled a dozen turtles in Styrofoam boxes inside his carry-on bags from LAX to China in January, according to court papers.

But last month, a random X-ray luggage check conducted by the Transportation Security Administration at LAX detected "unusual round objects" in Qu's bags during a routine inspection, according to an affidavit supporting a criminal complaint filed in the case.

The TSA inspector who flagged the luggage said he recognized that the bags contained turtles, "based on his enthusiasm for turtles as a teenager," the document states.